The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1887-06-09
our letter to the lady contained the 1ol-

At O'Clock we will attach strong line
to the end of your cord. Pull this until
the ladder reaches you. The line will be
sufficiently strong to bear your weight.
Place the line over hook or post, but do
not make it fast. We will hold the end,
SO fear not. The line will be withdrawn
after your descent, so that no one will dis
cover the manner of your escape. There
will be no moon. Before daybreak you
will be on vessel under way for Eng
land. If you can devise any other means
or have any suggestions to make you can
communicate as before; we will pass
nightly until we have some token from
you. We are two who have sworn to
save you. One of us will ascend to assist
in your descent if you desire it. May
God, to whom you have prayed, nerve you
to your task. - -
The next night we received the follow
ing answer:
81 will provide the ladder, which you
will pull toward you by the cord. 1 have
q trusted eunuch who will assist me, as his
life belongs to. me. Think well of the
danger. l have no right to place you in
jeopardy. In case of discovery, q rope
ladder upon you would prove>your guilt;
you would be seized and disposed of, none
would know how except the headsman.
Your crime and mine are punishable by
death. My life is nothing, nor would 1 he
missed, but you have loved ones at home.
Should you change your mind ON the night
appointed, God have mercy upon me! /
will not live to see the light of another
day. I have often meditated this act. I
have felt that God, to whom have always
prayed, would deliver me, and that would
be allowed to thank him in his sanctuary.
If You do not find the cord, you may know
that have been betrayed. If all is safe,
the cord will be weighted with q silken
purse containing jewels to reward you and
to assist ME in my escape. Should you
not find this token, it will be because
have been discovered. Then be on your
guard against assassination. I shall not
look for you until the hour named"
Mr.. friend, Capt. H., had fallen most
desperately in love. say desperately, be-
cause he neither slept, ate nor drank, nor
would he give Inc any rest. 1t was re-
assuring to me to see fellow so far gone;
had thought myself the only one who
could be so "cracked." He was always at
my heels, and had become my shadow. I
learned his whole history. The cause of
his going to sea was the removal of @
fiaXen haired, blue eyed schoolmate, who
had been his beloved little friend from his
earliest memory. Her parents had moved
to Moscow, and thence, as he was in
formed, to Odessa, from which port he
had last sailed, with cargo Of grain for
Falmouth for orders. At Odessa he had
made the most searching inquiries, and
learned that family of the same name
had gone to Alexandria about six years
previous. He had been, until our present
adventure, remarkably quiet and diffident.
He had told me that his difiidence arose
from the fact that he was almost woman
hater, and that he never expected to be
happy until he found his early love, whom
he last saw when she was II and he 10
years of age. His interest in the fair
captive was doubtless aroused by the fact
that she strongly resembled his early love.
The eventful night arrived. I gave a
supper at the hotel to allay any suspicion.
Supper was order for twenty, and was
night spree. Wine flowed freely, and had
its effect upon our friends. At 10 o'clock,
by a preconcerted arrangement, note
was handed to me by servant. I pre-
tended that it had been sent by my second
OAtCCI, anu ~ tlldU lHy
chief officer had killed one of the crew.
Apologizing for my sudden departure, 1
promised to return as soon as possible and
finish the night. My friend, Capt. r.,
insisted upon going with me. protested,
but he was obstinate, and finally, as the
company insisted that it was not safe to
go alone, we two left in company.
We arrived at the gate in our usual ap-
4
literally, and passed through. A few min
utes later we returned and had our cigars
and lanterns lighted, pretending that the
latter had been put out accidentally. They
were so ready in assisting us that we
gave them another handful Of piasters, and
made them understand not to allow any
one to follow us. They earnestly promised
and we started again, our hearts almost
bursting with rapid pulsation. We found
the cord; a purse was at the end of it. So
far all was safe.
Running to the farther gate as quickly
as possible, we repeated our former STRAIT
egg of brides, and the guards promised US
that while we were in the street nobody
should pass them. Thus we had the field
to ourselves, with guards on either hand
to protect us from interference.
We returned to the spot where the purse
lay. 1t was readily discovered by reason
of its brilliancy, being worked in gold and
silver threads. A stout cord was attached
to it. We pulled gently upon the cord
and drew down q ladder made of silk.
The night was dark, not a star visible.
Thus far everything favored us. We put
a strain upon the ladder with both our
weights to keep it from swaying, when
suddenly we felt q heavy burden upon it,
and in an instant man in white tunic
sprang from the ladder and seized me by
both arms, muttering something / could
not understand. Letting go his iron grip
upon me, he took the captain in the same
manner. Then he sprang up the ladder
and disappeared. -.
We were so taken by surprise that we
could not have defended ourselves If occa-
sion had requiredit. Treachery or not we
did not know, but we stood at our post
Presently we felt By the strain on the rope
that some one was again descending.
This time it was the lady herself. She
sprang lightly to the ground, and moment
later came the man who had before de-
scended. He was her faithful slave. He
fell ON his knees and begged to be taken
with US. But this was impossible He
was to be relieved by another guard at 4
o'clock, and his absence would have
caused the discovery of the escape She
advised him to return, close the window,
and let go the rope. She would not be
missed until noon, when it would be i'm
possible to know during whose watch she
made her escape. It might be supposed
she had committed suicide, as she had
frequently threatened to do, and might
have done, by throwing herself into the
Bosphorous through trap in the floor of
a boat house near by.
She did not speak nor evince any terror,
but trusted US entirely. AS We heard
footsteps rapidly approaching, and feared
pursuit or q meeting with street maraud-
ers, we lost no time in reaching the gate.
The guard opened it Immediately The
word american" had charm for them,
especially as it was followed by handful
of piasters thrown OF them when the gate
was opened. Ipresume they imagined we
did it in our drunken fun, but it was
really to draw their attention from our
companion. After we had passed through
locked the gate and threw away the key.
The guards were too busy picking up the
money to heed a laundering at the gate
after we had gone on. We did not reach
our boats too soon, for we could hear NUT
tering voices and tramping feet close be-
hind us. With mufiled oars we pulled
for my friends brig. We had proceeded
not more than fifty yards from the shore
when we heard our pursuers jumping into
boats at the landing. Who they were we
could not tell, but they had not the Gus
tomary lights with them to indicate that
- T. IA.